Journal Response to "Just Walk on By..."

Racism is a problem in our country today which is made apparent in Brent Staple’s “Just Walk on By...” I for one am shocked of how many stories Brent was able to speak of from personal experience. It is just absolutely insane some of the stuff that has happened to him, such as having a dog nearly sent after him just for standing in a jewellery store, or even getting mistaken for a burglar in his own place of work. This is an ongoing problem that will not cease until society learns to grow up and forget the unjust stereotypes that have been placed upon so many innocent people. Sterotypes based off a person’s physical appearance is simply a dumb thing to do since it is not a person’s body that causes someone to make bad decisions, but someone’s mind.

I thought Brent’s full title to his paper was interesting because of the implied notion that he was going to “alter public space,” which is exactly what he did. Many people would change their actions just from the sight of him. A perfect example being of what Brent describes happening during late nights on a subway platform, or when people cross the street to go around him rather than pass him. Going this far to avoid someone just because of the way they look or the way they dress is only playing to the childish mistake of judging a book by its’ cover. This type of thinking only alienates people and has no constructive value whatsoever. Racism is something that we need to do away with if we are to survive as a society. Even though people may be divided physically by a physical trait, we are also united physically by our connection to each other as the human race. The sooner people figure this out, the better.